And still the dry continues with Mother Nature allowing us only to dream of wet ground, of full ponds and dams and of showers longer than two minutes and without a bucket for company.
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Even with little or no rain, the wheels keep turning; spring-flowering bulbs are already out of the ground and some of the early narcissus - jonquils mainly - have their first flowers.
Pick a small bunch for inside the house.
The flowers will last longer if you pick them while they are still in bud and, as they have a strong smell, you don't need too many to get the benefit of their fragrance.
Bergenia are also looking great at the moment and are a great winter stalwart, with broad, rounded, glossy rich green leaves and delicate, usually pink, flowers which are carried in branched sprays on short stems.
They are useful garden plants, growing to 50cm high and make excellent ground cover, even in dry shade.
In most Armidale gardens covering gladioli corms with a layer of hay or straw will be enough protection for the winter.
If in a really hard frost area, it may be best to lift and store them.
Dig the corms up when the leaves have died back, shake the soil off, put in a warm place to dry completely and store in a cardboard box in a cool dry place with good air circulation until spring.
Critically assess the status of the plants that provide the structure in your garden.
Are they up to the challenges of our changing climate and of this extremely dry time?
Evergreen shrubs such as Buxus, Rosemary, the laurels (Prunus laurocerasus and lusitanica), Photinia, Rhapheolepis, Feijoa, Eleagnus, Abelia, Arbutus unedo, Viburnum tinus and olives all provide a foil to the stems of deciduous shrubs and trees at this time of year.
They seem to be surviving across the region at present.
For most of the year, the leaves have a glossy green colour, but in cooler climates, they turn red or bronze in the fall.
Cut back on watering your indoor plants in winter.
Remember that it may be colder if you put your plant very close to a window.
The next meeting of the Armidale Garden Club is on July 27th.
Our July meeting is a soup night, commencing at 6pm in the Uniting Church Youth Club Hall. There is always plenty for everyone - just come along!
Bergenia fact
Named to honour the German botanist Karl August von Bergen in 1794.
